Method and system for remote call forwarding of telephone calls from an IP connection

ABSTRACT

A subscriber to a remote call forwarding feature on a wire-line telephone line associated with a PBX ( 101 ) or central office ( 402 ), hereinafter, a “user”, can enable that feature by entering a feature code from an IP terminal ( 112, 412 ). The user enters a feature code from his/her IP terminal ( 112, 412 ), which feature code is received by a remote server (for example, server  110 ) having access to an IP user directory ( 113, 413 ), hereinafter, for example, an active user registry (AUR) database, and forwards necessary information for invoking the feature in a determined manner to a Service Control Point (SCP) ( 106, 406 ). The SCP recognizes the feature code as a request to invoke the remote call forwarding feature on the user&#39;s wire-line telephone so that calls directed to that wire-line telephone are forwarded to, for example, the user&#39;s cellular phone. Receipt of that feature code by the SCP, identifies the cellular phone&#39;s Electronic Serial Number (ESN) from a provided cellular phone number or Mobile Identification Number (MIN) and identifies the user and the feature to be invoked for that user. By performing an SCP database ( 108, 408 ) lookup associated with that ESN and MIN, information is retrieved relating to what PBX ( 101 ) or switch ( 402 ) should be contacted to invoke the feature, how and where to contact that PBX or switch, and what specifically must be sent to that PBX or switch to invoke the feature on the user&#39;s telephone line.

This application is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 09/010,616 filed Jan. 22, 1998 now U.S. Pat. No.6,141,545 entitled “Method and System for Remote Call Forwarding ofTelephone Calls from a Cellular Phone” by Lee Begeja, Jeffrey Farah andNeil Ostroff.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to telecommunications, and more particularly, toa method and system for remotely initiating a call forwarding featureassociated with a user's home or office telephone line via an IPconnection to the network, for example, from the user's E-MAIL addressso that calls are automatically forwarded, for example, to a cellulartelephone assigned to the user from the user's home or office telephone.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/823,944, filed Mar. 25, 1997 andpublished under EP 0 872 998 A1 on Oct. 21, 1998, defines the terms“user” and “subscriber” as related directly to called party and callingparty respectively in a telecommunications context and describes anactive user registry (AUR), also referred to in U.S. Pat. No. 6,055,510.Referring to FIG. 2B, taken in part from EP 0 872 998 A1 andsupplemented in accordance with the present invention, there is shown anexample of an active user registry (AUR) in which a user, typically acalled party, inputs and stores for use by subscribers, calling partiestrying to reach the called parties, a thorough list of personaltelecommunications parameters. The thorough list of personaltelecommunications parameters includes but is not limited to the user'sname and aliases 215, their home phone, work phone, cellular phone 220,e-mail address 240, URL 270 and reach number 290. The active userregistry is one example of a network directory function for providingdirectory information about a user identifying, for example, all thepossible ways a subscriber may reach a user such as by e-mail, bytelephone at work or home, by facsimile at work or home, by pager, bycellular phone, by a personal display device (PDA) and the like.

The user may access the AUR and provide a current reach address so asubscriber may locate the user who accesses the AUR. There is no means,however, disclosed by which the user enters (or knows) their cellularmobile identification number-electronic serial number (MIN-ESN) or othercellular telephone service related information or can follow the stepsdisclosed in commonly assigned, parent U.S. patent application Ser. No.09/010,616 whereby a user may activate remote call forwarding from theirhome or PBX office phone to their cellular phone from their cellularphone. For convenience, the terms “user” and “subscriber” will be usedconsistently herein with the manner suggested by the '944 application.

Call forwarding is a feature commonly available through many telephonecompanies that enables a user as just defined to automatically havehis/her telephone calls forwarded to another telephone number from thetelephone line to which calls were initially directed. Remote callforwarding simply means that one can access call forwarding remotely,i.e. from another phone not associated with the feature. For example,when remote call forwarding is activated, a subscriber dialing the userat their PBX will reach the user at their cellular telephone accordingto the commonly assigned, prior '616 application once the user hasremotely activated the feature from their cellular telephone not havingthe feature.

In its basic implementation, a user implements remote call forwarding bydialing a feature code from the telephone associated with thesubscribed-to service and inputs the forwarding telephone number towhich he wants subsequent calls directed. The central office switchrecognizes the feature code and the telephone line from which the userhas dialed, and the central office switch thereafter redirects callsfrom the user's telephone line to the forwarding telephone number. Forremote call forwarding, again, the subscriber is not at the phone thatis associated with the feature.

Two methods for remote call forwarding are commonly available: a networkservice or using specialized subscriber equipment connected to thesubscriber's telephone line. As a network service, in order to invokecall forwarding to the telephone at the subscriber's current location,the subscriber makes an actual phone call to a designated specialtelephone number associated with his local switch, provides the numberof the telephone associated with his local switch, provides the numberof the telephone associate with the subscribed-to feature, inputs a PINto prevent unauthorized call forwarding, and then inputs a feature codedesignated for call forwarding. The telephone number from which thesubscriber initiates the procedure is recognized by the network and thesubscriber's central office switch thereafter directs calls from thesubscriber's telephone line to the telephone line from which the remotecall forwarding feature has been invoked.

Using specialized subscriber equipment, in order to invoke remote callforwarding, the subscriber places a call to his specialized equipment,inputs a PIN to prevent unauthorized call forwarding, and then inputsthe telephone number to which calls should be forwarded. The specializedequipment then connects to the subscriber's telephone number followingthe same procedure as basic call forwarding. The central office switchrecognizes the feature code and the telephone line from which thesubscriber's specialized equipment has dialed and the central officeswitch thereafter redirects telephone calls from the subscriber'stelephone line to the forwarding telephone number.

Both basic call forwarding and remote call forwarding are features thatcan be associated with a subscriber's home telephone in which calls areredirected by the subscriber's switch in the local exchange office.Basic call forwarding and remote call forwarding are also features thatcan be associated with a telephone connected to a PBX in a corporateenvironment. As described above, for basic call forwarding the userenters a feature code from his telephone together with the telephonenumber to which calls are to be directed. For remote call forwarding,the user must dial a specific extension on the PBX, enter his ownextension number, and a PIN. Once call forwarding is invoked, the PBXthereafter places an outbound telephone call to the forwarding telephonenumber in response to an inbound call directed to the forwarder'stelephone number and bridges the inbound and outbound telephone calls.

A user of a mobile cellular telephone can invoke remote call forwardingto his cellular telephone from his home or office telephone in a mannerdescribed above. Thus, as described above, the user must dial a specialtelephone number, which number is either associated with his localswitch or PBX, and then enter his telephone number and a PIN.Disadvantageously, such a procedure over a wireless cellular network canproved security problems that are not present when remotely invoking acall forwarding feature from a telephone on the secure wire-linetelephone system. Specifically, since a user's touch-tone inputs on thecellular phone can possibly be intercepted, an eavesdropper couldillegal obtain a user's telephone number and password and then remotelyinvoke the call forwarding feature to forward calls to some desiredtelephone number.

In the commonly assigned, parent application U.S. Ser. No. 09/010,616,filed Jan. 22, 1998, we described a method and system for remotely callforwarding calls directed to a subscriber's home or business phone lineto the subscriber's cellular phone from their cellular phone.

An object of the present invention is to securely invoke a remote callforwarding feature for a subscriber's wire-line telephone from thesubscriber's home or business phone to the subscriber's cellular phonefrom an IP connection.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the present invention, a user of a remote callforwarding feature enables that feature on his/her wire-line telephoneline by accessing an Internet or other server and entering a featurecode via an IP connection to the server. Specifically, the subscriber,for example, enters a feature code from his personal computer or otherInternet work station on to a displayed web page displaying remote callforwarding actuation data and entry fields, which feature code isreceived by the server. An active user registry (AUR) or relateddirectory similar to that disclosed in EP 0 872 998 A1 but modified toinclude a field(s) for Service Control Point (SCP) access is utilized bythe server for setting up the remote call forwarding service requestedby the user. The AUR may be associated with an SCP in one embodiment,may be associated with a special server in a TCP/IP network in anotherembodiment, or may be associated with a server of the user's ISP orother server in yet another embodiment. In the embodiment where the AURis associated with an SCP, a database normally associated with an SCPmay be combined with the AUR database into a common database in yet afurther embodiment. The server then accesses this directory (the AUReither being combined with the SCP database or stand-alone) so that theuser may be identified and associated with the user's othertelecommunications reach capabilities, in the present example, theirwork and cellular telephone numbers. Sufficient information such as thefeature code and user identification, for example, by cell and workphone number is passed to the user's SCP where the cellular phone'sElectronic Serial Number (ESN) and Mobile Identification Number (MIN)(the cellular phone's telephone number) are stored in the SCP associateddatabase, the MIN-ESN together uniquely identifying the subscriber forcellular service purposes. The SCP recognizes the feature code as arequest to invoke a remote call forwarding feature on the subscriber'soffice or home wire-line telephone line on which the remote callforwarding feature is subscribed to by the user or is available to theuser. By performing, at the SCP, a database lookup associated with thatuser as determined by the MIN and ESN and/or the work phone number, thePBX phone line or home telephone phone line on which call forwarding isto be invoked and how to invoke the service is determined. Furtherinformation is retrieved in association with the user's identityincluding information relating to the specific equipment (e.g., the PBXor local switch) on which the call forwarding is to be invoked, theuser's telephone number or extension on the PBX, the user's PIN, in anembodiment in which the PBX or local switch requires a PIN to invoke thefeature, and a network address or telephone number through which thelocal switch or PBX can be reached. This information, together with theMIN, is then sent over a secure transmission medium to such networkaddress or telephone number to the PBX or local switch, which inresponse thereto, then invokes the remote call forwarding feature forthe user's line to forward calls to the identified MIN. Advantageously,remote call forwarding to the cellular phone may be securely affectedwithout requiring the user to enter a PIN. Further, the presentinvention can be used to remotely invoke through a user's IP connectionother features associated with a user's wire-line office or home phoneline.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present inventionshowing a user's cellular telephone invoking a remote call forwardingfeature associated with his office PBX telephone station via an IPconnection;

FIG. 2A shows an example of an SCP database associated with a ServiceControl Point (SCP) that stores the information necessary to contact theuser's PBX and further contains MIN/ESN;

FIG. 2B shows an example of an active user registry (AUR) databaseassociated with a server for providing directory information sufficientto match against information stored in the SCP database of FIG. 2A topermit MIN/ESN retrieval for remote call forwarding to a cellulartelephone, the AUR database storing information on how to access the SCPdatabase of FIG. 2A;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart detailing the steps of the present invention; and

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present inventionshowing a user's cellular telephone invoking a remote call forwardingfeature associated his home telephone line via an IP connection.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

With reference to FIG. 1, an example of invoking remote call forwardingfrom an IP connection for a user's office phone will be discussed whilean example of invoking remote call forwarding from a home telephone willbe subsequently discussed with reference to FIG. 4. In FIG. 1, users oftelephones connected to PBX 101, such as telephone 102, are assumed tobe capable of remotely call forwarding calls directed to their telephoneextension. PBX 101 may conventionally have wired telephones 102 and maycomprise a fixed wireless PBX. In the embodiment of FIG. 4, telephone401 may comprise a fixed wireless telephone or a wired telephone.

Depending on the particular PBX equipment, such call forwarding may beeffected only from another telephone directly connected to the PBX. Anexample of such a PBX may be the Definity® G3 PBX available from LucentTechnologies, Inc. Other PBXs may allow a telephone not directlyconnected to the PBX to dial into a special extension number and throughan interaction with the user, invoke the remote call forwarding featurefor an identified PBX line so that calls originating from within oroutside the PBX environment can be forwarded to the user's called-fromtelephone number, the latter being from either inside or outside the PBXenvironment.

In accordance with the present invention, the user associated withtelephone 102 invokes the remote call forwarding feature on his/herassociated PBX 101 by entering a feature code from an IP connection ofan IP terminal 112 to a remote server. The remote server may be anywherein the TCP/IP network 109 or accessible by such network in the same orsimilar manner as he/she would dial the feature code from his/her mobilecellular telephone 103 in accordance with the commonly assigned, parent'616 patent application, so that calls directed to his/her telephoneextension on PBX 101 are automatically forwarded to their cellulartelephone 103.

Specifically, in an example provided for illustrative purposes as oneexample of a feature of the present invention of invoking callforwarding from an IP connection, the user can access their IP serviceprovider or other remote server via an IP connection from IP terminal112 and effectuate a remote call transfer feature of their office orhome telephone 102 to their cellular telephone 103. The remote serverhas access to an AUR database 113 a associated with an SCP 106 or, in afurther embodiment, an AUR database 113 b associated with TCP/IP network109 or, in yet another embodiment, an AUR database 113 c associated witha terminal server 110 coupled to PBX 101. In yet a further embodiment ofthe present invention, SCP database 108 and AUR database 113 a may becombined as into the same database.

The remote server then accesses an SCP database 108 (or a combineddatabase 108/113 a) via an SCP 106 having the user's MIN/ESN data. Whena user's cellular telephone 103 registers via his cellular telephone'sembedded Electronic Serial Number (ESN) and Mobile Identification Number(MIN) through cell tower 104 with the nearest Mobile Switching Center(MSC) 105, the user, after invoking remote call forwarding from their IPconnection, will receive a remotely call forwarded call from asubscriber trying to dial the user at their home or PBX according to thepresent invention. As is known in the art, the combination of the ESNand MIN uniquely identifies the user associated with cellular telephone103 to MSC 105.

In order to invoke remote call forwarding of calls to his/herPBX-associated telephone 102 to his/her cellular telephone 103 via IPterminal 112, the user inputs a feature code from IP terminal 112 to auser screen for activating remote call forwarding. The user screen may,in a preferred embodiment, comprise a web page accessible from a website of the user's IP service provider or other associated entity, forexample, a terminal server 110 for PBX 101. Alternatively, the remoteserver and associated AUR 113 may be anywhere in the TCP/IP or WANnetwork or accessible from the network 109 (see, for example, AURdatabase 113 a or alternative AUR database 113 b or server 110/AURdatabase 113 c). AUR databases 113 a, 113 b and 113 c may becollectively referred to herein as AUR database 113.

The user, for example, may input a feature code via the web page/userscreen which may be the same feature code he/she would dial from hiscellular telephone 103 such as, for example, *37 if practicing our priorinvention. Such a feature code would be designated by the cellularprovider as a feature code for invoking remote call forwarding to thecalled-from cellular phone of calls to its users' PBX-associatedtelephone lines according to our prior invention.

Upon receiving the feature code *37 entered via the IP connection ofterminal 112, a remote server may recognize that it must effectuateremote call forwarding and performs a UAR database 113 a, 113 b or 113 c(FIG. 2B) look-up of information associated with the user. Suchinformation includes, at least, the office telephone number and thecellular telephone number or MIN. The server further obtains SCP accessinformation from field 295 of the AUR database 113 according to thepresent invention. Field 295 describes how to securely access SCPdatabase 108 (FIG. 2A) via an SCP 106. Using such information, theremote server having the AUR database 113 feature may access the SCPdatabase 108 in a secure manner that contains both the MIN and ESN ofcellular set 103. To do so, the server may send the feature codetogether with the identity of the user and their PBX and cellular phonenumbers in a manner determined by field 295 of the AUR database 113(FIG. 2B) to SCP 106 over a secure network for further processing. Thesecure network can be any secure data path between network 109 and SCP106 and as shown in FIG. 1. The connection to SCP 106 could be over anysecure network such as a wireless data network, or secure Internetnetwork. Further, as suggested above, the SCP database 108 and AURdatabase 113 may be integrated at a single location with SCP 106,therefore eliminating the need for any network being interposed therebetween. In this embodiment, the AUR database 113 b may not require anyknowledge from database 108 and so be self-contained. In a furtherembodiment, SCP database 108 containing MIN/ESN data may be integratedwith AUR databases 113 a, b or c.

SCP 106 recognizes the received feature code as a request to invoke aspecial feature, specifically a remote call forwarding feature uponreceiving the feature code. At SCP 106, SCP database 108 is accessed asnecessary in response to the special feature requested by the user at IPterminal 112 and the unique MIN/ESN identity of the user associated withcellular phone 103 is learned. SCP database 108 includes a recordassociated with both the MIN and ESN of each user that contains theinformation required to access that user's PBX to invoke the remote callforwarding feature to forward calls to cellular phone 103. The recordcan be positively identified by the combination of CellularPhone1 (MIN)and WorkPhone number combination from field 220 of one of AUR databases113 a–c (FIG. 2B).

FIG. 2A is an example of the type of information stored in fields of SCPdatabase 108 and AUR databases 113 a/113 b/113 c in combination neededto invoke the remote call forwarding feature at the user's associatedPBX to the cellular phone 103. The commonly assigned prior '616application does not indicate any means such as field 211 forassociating IP terminal 112 with their IP address, Internet serviceprovider data 211 aor other user identity data 211 b for matching a userconnecting thereto over an IP connection. The commonly assigned prior'616 application discloses fields 201–209 that may not providesufficient information for a user to effectuate remote call forwardingfrom an IP terminal 112. More specifically, fields 201–209 include theparticular information which is required by the PBX 101 to invoke remotecall forwarding, in what format that information should be sent, wherethat information should be sent, and how that information should be sentwith field 201 providing the cellular telephone number (MIN) and ESN ofthe user's cellular phone.

An active user registry (FIG. 2B) as disclosed in prior patents ofothers contains common fields 220 to these fields but not a MIN-ESN datafield 201. In accordance with the present invention, an AUR database(FIG. 2B) is modified to contain field 295 containing information on howto securely reach SCP 106 and associated SCP database 108. FIG. 2Bcontains for a each of N users 221, 222, 223 the following additionalinformation fields: user name and aliases 215, messaging capabilities230, email addresses 240, fax addresses 250, IP data 260, URL data 270,multimedia data 280 and current reach number 290.

As can be noted in FIG. 2A, there is associated with a subscriber'sMIN-ESN field pair 201 in SCP database 108 a data entry field 210 forthe entry data for MIN-ESN. Also, field 201, for the same user, isassociated with further fields for the user including a PBX telephonenumber field 202 associating the user's extension 203 on the PBX for theuser that is common to the WorkPhone entry 220 of AUR (FIG. 2B).Additionally, MIN field 201 (FIG. 2A) is shared in common withCellularPhone1 entry 220 (FIG. 2B). Consequently, user records can beuniquely identified. Field 202 (FIG. 2A) may be likewise found in orshared with a WorkPhone data entry of AUR database 113 (FIG. 2B). Field204 (FIG. 2A), on the other hand, does compare with any field of AURdatabase 113 and indicates the particular type of PBX equipmentassociated with that user, and the procedures and/or signals required bythat PBX to invoke a remote call forwarding feature thereon. Field 205(FIG. 2A) indicates the user's password, if the type of PBX in field 204requires the inputting of a password to invoke the remote callforwarding feature for a particular extension. Field 206 containsinformation on how to access the PBX. Specifically, as will be describedhereinafter, the secure transmission medium over which such informationrequired by the PBX is to be transmitted to the PBX by SCP 106, is, forexample, via a packet computer network such as the Internet or acorporate Intranet, a wireless data network, or the SS7 signalingnetwork.

Continuing the discussion of the information fields of SCP database 108of FIG. 2A, field 207 contains an address associated with thetransmission medium in field 206 to which the information is to betransmitted. Thus, for example, and as will be described below, if thesecure transmission medium is via an Intranet over a TCP/IP WANconnection, an IP address of a terminal server 110 to which theinformation is to be directed may be indicated in this field of aseparate record field 211. Other information, such as translationcommands and special protocols required by equipment that may beconnected to the PBX can be in separate fields 208 and 209, orincorporated into one of the fields described above.

Record 211, new to the present invention, shows IP terminal data in someof the entry fields 211 a, for example, identifying the user e-mailaddress and Internet service provider and entry field 211 b, forexample, for other user identity data, that can be associated with aparticular MIN/ESN in a common or remote database. On the other hand, anActive User Registry database 113 may contain the cellular telephonenumber (for example, CellularPhone1), office telephone number(WorkPhone) along with fields like field 211 (corresponding to fields240, 270 in FIG. 2B), but perhaps not the MIN/ESN data unless sodesigned. According to the present invention, AUR database 113 hassufficient information in field 295 to obtain access to SCP database 108as needed to determine the MIN-ESN information and PBX detailinformation needed to effectuate remote call forwarding remotely from IPterminal 112.

With reference again to FIG. 1 and in the specific embodiment describedherein, the information retrieved by SCP 106 from SCP database 108,including the MIN of the subscriber's cellular phone, is encapsulatedinto a message and transmitted over a secure corporate Intranet, aTCP/IP WAN 109, to a terminal server 110 at an IP address specified infield 207. The terminal server 110 receives the message, performs aprotocol conversion to the command signals that need to be input to thePBX 101, and sends these commands, together with any necessarytranslation commands, to a modem 111 that is actually connected to PBX101. Modem 111 appears to PBX 101 as a station set on the PBX, and thecommand information including the dial codes, the subscriber's extensionnumber, MIN to which calls are to be forwarded to, the subscriber'spassword, if necessary, etc., are input to PBX 101 to effect the callforwarding capability of PBX 101. Although this embodiment shows a modem111 interconnecting the terminal server 110 and PBX 101, in analternative preferred embodiment, the PBX 101 may have its own internalmodem to which the terminal server can be connected, or may have aninherent Internet capability to receive the information directly fromTCP/IP WAN 109. Further, the terminal server 110—modem 111 combinationcould be an intelligent platform that could have more sophisticatedcontrol of PBX 101. This more intelligent control could even includecontrol of the administration terminal of the PBX from which moresophisticated and complicated commands could be entered.

In the embodiment described above, the information necessary to invokethe remote call forwarding feature in PBX 101 is preferably transmittedfrom SCP 106 via a secure Intranet TCP/IP WAN connection 109, although anon-secure network may be used. Other secure transport mediums besidesTCP/IP WAN connection 109 could also be used, for example, a wirelessdata network, a secure Internet connection, or any other secure network.

Advantageously, the present invention enables feature changes to becommunicated to the subscriber's PBX 101 initiated via IP terminal 112through the input by the user at terminal 112 of a feature code.Further, through the wireless handshake between the cellular phone 103and the MSC 105, which uniquely and unambiguously recognizes theregistered user of the cellular set, a user is located automatically andcalls can be remotely transferred to cellular telephone 103 originallydirected to PBX 101.

FIG. 3 illustrates the steps of the present invention. At step 301, theuser enters from his IP terminal 112 the feature code (e.g., *37) toinvoke remote call forwarding of calls directed to his PBX extension tohis cellular phone. The remote server is preferably an Internet serviceprovider's remote server or one associated with PBX 101 such as server110. The remote server accesses an AUR database according to the presentinvention, responsive to receipt of the code, to determine how to obtainMIN-ESN data. The remote server then initiates a query to SCP database108 to obtain the data using commonly known information such as featurecode, cellular telephone number (MIN) and/or PBX extension number orunique combinations thereof for a given user. At step 302, the IP serverreceives and recognizes the feature code. The IP server then forwardsthat feature code together with the IP identity of the user, forexample, with commonly shared database information such as cellularphone number and/or PBX telephone and extension number to the SCP 106and SCP database 108. The SCP 106 recognizes that feature code as arequest for remote call forwarding of a subscriber's PBX calls. At step303, using the MIN/ESN identity, the SCP 106 knows in the future toremote call forward calls to MSC 105 and identifies the PBX 101associated with that MIN/ESN, and for that identified PBX, the type ofinformation and the format required by that PBX to invoke a remote callforwarding of calls to a cellular phone MIN. At step 304, thatinformation in the required format is sent to the PBX 101 over a securetransport medium. At step 305, the PBX receives that information andinvokes the remote call forwarding feature.

In the above description, it was assumed that the user desired toremotely invoke call forwarding of calls from his/her office number,which is associated with a PBX. Remote call forwarding is also a featureavailable for home or small business subscribers from Local ExchangeCarriers through their electronic local switches such as the No. 5ESSswitch, manufactured by Lucent Technologies, Inc. By dialing a featurecode associated with remote call forwarding of non-PBX type of calls(e.g., *38), call forwarding of calls from a user's non-PBX telephoneline to a user's cellular phone can be invoked in a manner similar tothat described above for a user's PBX line. With reference to FIG. 4,the user at telephone 401, which may be wired or cordless or a fixedwireless phone, is connected over a conventional local loop to a localswitch 402 at his Local Exchange Company (LEC). If that local switch 402is an electronic switch and if the user at telephone 401 is a subscriberto a call forwarding feature, the user can call forward calls fromstation set 401 to another telephone number associated with local switch402 or any other switch by entering a feature code and the forwardingnumber in a conventional manner. If the user also subscribes to a remotecall forwarding feature that enables him/her to invoke the callforwarding feature from a remote telephone to which he/she wants callsredirected, the user dials a special telephone number associated withhis/her local switch from the remote telephone, and then may enter aPIN, if required, and a feature code in a conventional manner. Theuser's local switch receives the number of the remote telephone from thenetwork and then forward calls placed to the user's number to the remotetelephone.

In accordance with the present invention, the subscriber at IP terminal412 enters the special feature code (e.g.,*38) to invoke remote callforwarding, which is received at a server having an associated AURdatabase, (one of AUR databases 413 a, 413 b or 413 c) for obtainingenough information to query or transfer control to SCP 406 andassociated SCP database 408 having MIN/ESN data The IP server sends thatfeature code together with cellular phone and home telephone data(HomePhone1 or HomePhone2, whichever has remote call forwarding) todetermine the MIN/ESN identity of cellular phone 403 to SCP 406 via asecure network as described above which may be any secured networkconnection known in the art. SCP 406 recognizes that feature code as arequest to remotely invoke a call forwarding feature at a local switch.At SCP 406, SCP database 408 is accessed to retrieve a record associatedwith the user identifying the MIN/ESN. That database, similar to thedatabase previously described in FIG. 2A, contains additional datafields (not shown) which provide the information necessary for accessinglocal switch 402 and the home telephone number for which remote callforwarding is to be invoked for comparison purposes. The contactinformation would include the type of local switch (analogous to PBXfield 204) associated with the user in addition to the other informationthat is required to interact with switch 402 to invoke the remote callforwarding feature to forward calls to the subscriber's cellulartelephone 403. This may include, if required, the subscriber's PIN(analogous to password 205) and the IP address of a terminal server 410(analogous to field 207) that is connected to switch 402 and to whichSCP 106 is connected via an Intranet TCP/IP WAN 409.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, IP terminal 412 mayinitiate the IP connection to terminal server 410 and associated AURdatabase 413 c, limiting the amount of data flow required between remoteserver and SCP 406. For example, the user may have an AUR databaseestablished at his/her work place which has a secure web site atterminal server 110 coupled to the work location's PBX 101.

The TCP/IP Wan 409 is a particular embodiment of a secure network overwhich the call forwarding information may be transmitted as necessary.As in the embodiment of FIG. 1, other secure transport mediums could beused between SCP 406 and local switch 402. Terminal server 410 performsthe protocol conversions on the information transmitted in TCP/IP formatfrom SCP 406 so that local switch 402, in response thereto, invokes callforwarding of those calls to the subscriber's cellular telephone 403from the subscriber's land-line telephone 401.

Although the embodiments described above have described methods wherebya user may remotely invoke a call forwarding feature for a work or homephone having the feature to a cellular telephone from an IP connection,the present invention could also be used to remotely invoke otherspecial features from the IP connection. These obviously would includeremotely canceling call forwarding to the cellular telephone and otherfeatures that can be associated with a user's local telephone service,or are provided through a PBX, whether such features are currentlyavailable or may be made available at any time in the future. Further,although described in conjunction with a voice telephone, the presentinvention could be used to remotely invoke call forwarding of calls ofany type, data or otherwise, to a wireless station set of any kind, fromany kind of wire-line station set via an IP connection. Further,although described in conjunction with a cellular telephone, the presentinvention could be used in conjunction with any type or wirelesstelephone including, but not limited to digital and/or analog wirelesstelephones using Time Division Multiple Access or Code Division MultipleAccess technologies and/or any other technology.

The above-described embodiments are illustrative of the principles ofthe present invention. Those skilled in the art may devise otherembodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the presentinvention. Any United States patent applications and issued patentsreferenced herein should be deemed to be incorporated by reference as totheir entire subject matter and contents.

1. A method of invoking a feature associated with a user's line on awire-line facility via an IP connection, the feature involving a user'swireless station set, the method comprising the steps of: a) receiving afeature code from an IP terminal indicative of the feature to be invokedat a server; b) responsive to the received feature code, the serverdetermining the user's wire-line and wireless facilities and associatedinformation required to invoke the feature in association with theuser's line on the wire-line facility including to what service controlpoint and in what manner to send that information; and c) sending thatinformation to the service control point in the manner determined instep b) to invoke the feature in association with the user's line on thewire-line facility.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the information issent in step c) over a secure transmission medium.
 3. The method ofclaim 2 wherein the secure transmission medium is a wireless datanetwork.
 4. The method of claim 2 wherein the secure transmission mediumis a packet computer network.
 5. The method of claim 3 wherein thewireless station set is a cellular telephone.
 6. The method of claim 1wherein the feature is remote call forwarding to forward a call directedto the user's line on the wire-line facility to the user's wirelessstation set.
 7. The method of claim 1 wherein the feature isdeactivation of an activated remote call forwarding feature whichforwards calls directed to the user's line on the wire-line facility tothe user's wireless station set.
 8. The method of claim 6 wherein theuser's line on the wire-line facility is associated with a PBX and theinformation further includes how to access the PBX for invoking theremote call forwarding feature on the user's line of the PBX.
 9. Themethod of claim 6 wherein the user's line on the wire-line facility isassociated with a central office switch and the information furtherincludes how to access the central office switch and invoke the remotecall forwarding feature on the subscriber's line of the central officeswitch.
 10. A system for invoking a feature associated with a user'sline on a wire-line facility from an IP connection, the featureinvolving the subscriber's wireless station set, the system comprising:a server which receives a feature code from an IP terminal indicative ofthe feature to be invoked; a database accessible by said service havingIP terminal data and information determining a service control point forthe feature and how to send information to the service control point andthe service control point and an associated database, the servicecontrol point receiving an identifier associated with the wirelessstation set and the received feature code and retrieving from thedatabase information associated with the received identifier informationrequired to invoke the feature in association with the user's line onthe wire-line facility including to where and how to send theinformation.
 11. The system of claim 10 wherein the server and theservice control point are connected over a secure transmission facility.12. The system of claim 10 wherein the wireless station set is acellular telephone.
 13. The system of claim 10 wherein the feature isremote call forwarding to forward a call directed to the user's line onthe wire-line facility to the user's wireless station set.
 14. Thesystem of claim 10 wherein the feature is deactivation of the activatedremote call forwarding feature which forwards calls directed to theuser's line on the wire-line facility to the user's wireless stationset.
 15. The system of claim 13 wherein the user's line on the wire-linefacility is associated with a PBX and the information includes how toaccess the PBX for invoking the remote call forwarding feature on theuser's line of the PBX.
 16. The system of claim 13 wherein the user'sline on the wire-line facility is associated with a central officeswitch and the information includes how to access the switch and invokethe remote call forwarding feature on the user's line of the centraloffice switch.
 17. A method of invoking a remote call forwarding featureassociated with a user's telephone line on a wire-line facility from anIP connection, the remote call forwarding feature involving a user'smobile wireless telephone to forward calls directed to the wire-linetelephone line to the wireless telephone, the method comprising thesteps of: a) receiving at a server a feature code from an IP terminalindicative of the remote call forwarding feature to be invoked; b)responsive to the received feature code, the server determining theuser's telephone line on the wire-line facility and the user's wirelesstelephone line and associated information required to invoke the remotecall forwarding feature on the user's telephone line on the wire-linefacility including to what service control point and how to send thatinformation; and c) sending that information to the determined servicecontrol point in the manner determined in step b) to invoke the remotecall forwarding feature on the user's telephone line on the wire-linefacility.
 18. The method of claim 17 wherein the user's line on thewire-line facility is associated with a PBX and the determined servicecontrol point determines information how to access the PBX and invokethe remote call forwarding feature on the user's line of the PBX. 19.The method of claim 17 wherein the user's line on the wire-line facilityis associated with a central office switch and the determined servicecontrol point determines information how to access the central officeswitch and invoke the remote call forwarding feature on the subscriber'sline of the central office switch.